Polish Briefing: Russian spies conspire in Poland I Naftoport gets bigger I Police harbor will get bigger I Energy bridge to Ukraine almost done

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What goes on in Poland on the 16th of March.

RMF FM: Russians could be preparing sabotage in Poland

The RMF FM radio has established that a network of Russian spies in Poland was preparing sabotage on the railway lines near the Rzeszów-Jasionka airport, where NATO’s transfer base to Ukraine is located.

Polish security services have busted a spy network working for Russia. Allegedly the group was preparing sabotage. A reporter of the RMF FM radio has found out that the officers of the Internal Security Agency detained 6 people in this case, and due to the events related to the railway routes and in domestic critical infrastructure, a security alert was introduced.

The spies reportedly deployed cameras on important routes to record the movement of trains and send the data to the network. Civilian and military aid transports to Ukraine, which is resisting the Russian invasion, arrive in Jasionka.

Poland has introduced a level two BRAVO alert indicating an increased threat of a terrorist attack. Whereas the Charlie-CRP level means there is a greater threat of terrorist attacks in cyberspace.

PERN expands the Naftoport to accommodate more oil outside of Russia

The operator of oil pipelines in Poland, PERN, is expanding the oil port in Gdańsk, so that it can receive more oil from outside Russia. The transport will take place via the second line of the Pomerania Oil Pipeline, which is waiting for customer contracts to start works.

„Currently, three stations are operating continuously, two stations are used by PKN Orlen for the Gdańsk refinery, while we are starting to design another one for the largest, heaviest tankers. We are in the process of preparing for the selection of a designer, so we still have the design and executive stage ahead of us,” revealed the president of PERN.

„In addition, an important element of the whole system is the second strand of the Pomerania Oil Pipeline. Today, the entire Polish oil system is actually based on this one thread. Three strands of the eastern section and two of the western section do not actually function continuously. Therefore, for security and business reasons, the second section of the Pomerania seems necessary. We can say that a few weeks ago we received the last permission to build this investment. We have building permits for the entire section of the second Gdańsk-Płock thread. Now we are waiting for a response from customers. Commercial agreements between PERN and its customers secure this investment,” the PERN CEO said.

„We need at least four years to build this pipeline,” he said, so in the event of an agreement with PKN Orlen or another client in 2023, a third leg to the the Pomerania Oil Pipeline could be added in 2027. The two strands of the Pomerania Oil Pipeline would allow for greater flexibility of supplies through the Naftoport and in both directions between Gdańsk and Płock.

Grupa Azoty and KGHM discuss cooperation on expansion of the Police Seaport

The companies are discussing the extension of existing cooperation and the involvement of KGHM Polska Miedź in the expansion of the Police Seaport, which belongs to Grupa Azoty. The copper giant expressed interest in investment plots, which, given the location and planned expansion of the port infrastructure, may be attractive.

The port area houses transport facilities for the entire Grupa Azoty. „The area provides maritime export and import opportunities, but also partly storage through a park of tanks with raw materials necessary for production at Police. After the launch of Polimery Police, Grupa Azoty’s new complex, the transhipments at the port should go up by over 400 thousand tons per year. This is an increase by about  a few dozen percent,” Azoty explain.

The harbor in Police is the fourth biggest port in Poland when it comes to transhipments. It was originally built for the transport needs of local Police Chemical Plants, but now provides services to other entities as well.

First energy bridge between Poland and Ukraine to arrive in a few weeks

The Rzeszow-Khmelnitsky electricity connection is expected to be ready within a few weeks.

„In a matter of days and weeks we will be able to announce the launch of this connection,” said Mateusz Berger, the Government Plenipotentiary for Strategic Energy Infrastructure.

Poland is also to discuss the second Chełm-Równe bridge, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said. Ukraine has synchronized its power grid with the European one and intends to develop cross-border energy trade. In case of power shortages, it can use supplies from the European Union and in case of surpluses at home, it can send them to Europe, including to the Polish market.
The plan says that the Rzeszów-Khmelnitsky electricity connection will be put into operation in the second quarter of 2023.